All Falls Down
by Takada Saiko
Summary: As a curse washes over the Enchanted Forest and those that use magic fall ill under its poison, Rumplestiltskin finds that he's not the only one in his family affected. AU after mid-season break of Season 3. Follows my stories Home and The Greater Darkness. Rumbelle. SwanFire.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: This does follow in after my stories Home and The Greater Darkness, so is AU after the mid-season break in Season 3.

**All Falls Down**

**Chapter One**

_Yeah God love your soul and your aching bones_  
_Take a breath, take a step, meet me down below_

_Everyone's the same  
our fingers to our toes  
We just can't get it right  
But we're on the road_

If ever your world starts crashing down  
Whenever your world starts crashing down  
That's when you find me.

"All Fall Down" ~ OneRepublic

* * *

Life, if nothing else, had proven unpredictable even to one who could see the future. Sometimes good and sometimes bad, but always unpredictable, even when he thought he had it all mapped out. He could set up all the pieces in perfect order for years and then a variable - unseen, but certainly not small - could send tremors through it all, threatening to topple the best laid plans. Henry had been one of those variables when he'd sought out Bae. Thankfully that had turned out well enough, even if he'd been put into some close calls on behalf of his grandson since. The boy's mother also continued to be a changing piece. Emma Swann. The product of True Love. Rumplestiltskin had known she'd be important, had known that she could and would break the curse that he'd manipulated Regina into casting for him, but she'd turned out to be so much more. She'd been his son's own True Love, the mother of his grandson, and, heaven help them all now, family. In a roundabout way, she was also the reason that he was now sitting - Belle called it sulking, but really he was just sitting - in a closed carriage that was taking them on a journey that would have gone smoother and oh so much quicker if they'd just allowed him to teleport them to where they needed to go. He hated lengthy trips.

Miss Swann had created her newest jolt to his plans when her mother had announced that they would, once again, be returning to the Enchanted Forest. Anton and the dwarves had been hard at work in the fields growing beans for months without wanting to get anyone's hopes up. There had been no guarantee that the formerly burnt fields had been really reset when Storybrooke had come back, but even after Mallicade had been dealt with there had been a general unrest that never faded from the displaced population. So they had planted and they had tried and in the end the beans grew.

Rumple, somewhat to his own surprise, hadn't wanted to go. There was something soothing about his shop, the home that he, his love, and his son shared - often with Emma Swann in recent months which brought Henry along as well - and the stillness of Storybrooke. In a way it reminded him of Bae's youth when everything had been so quiet in their little village. Thankfully the town in Maine had modern amenities and he wasn't scrounging to put enough food on the table. Okay, so it reminded him of the good parts of their quiet little village.

He had been ready to voice his thoughts on the matter to his son, but Snow and Charming were going back with their people and where they went their daughter would follow. Where their daughter went, so would her son, and that ensured Baelfire's return as well. After everything, Bae would not risk losing his family again and, in turn, Rumple would never stay if his son were leaving. He'd told Belle that late one night after she'd finally coaxed it out of him and she'd promised to stand by his side if he wanted to stay or if he wanted to return. As long as they were together, she had promised him, that would be enough for her. There had been a choice, in the most practical sense of it, but for Rumplestiltskin who had spent lifetimes trying to find his only son, the choice was made as soon as Bae had made his.

So they had returned through a portal made by one of those damned beans that still made his skin crawl to think too much on. He hadn't needed to look to the future to see what was going to happen then. The Charmings were fond of Bae and they'd put him straight back to the counsel he had sat on before they'd been pulled back to Storybrooke this last time. If Rumplestiltskin was forced to give them credit for everything - something he'd much prefer not doing if he had a choice in the matter - it was that, while in some ways they acted very much like the royals that they were expected to be, in others they broke expectations into pieces. They didn't see social status as those around them often did.

Bae had been put to the counsel and Rumple and Regina both had been roped into the place of providing an entirely different kind of counsel. Between the two of them they had more magical knowledge than the newly disgraced Blue Fairy could have ever provided - or would have, if the purpose hadn't served her - and there he found himself trapped, not by any physical or magical restraints, but by expectations he'd never bothered with before this. Damn them if they expected him to play the parts they played.

"Hey." The nudge jolted him out of his irritable thoughts and the clearest blue eyes that he'd ever known were staring at him, those red-painted lips pulled in a gentle and almost teasing smile. "You promised that you were done sulking."

Rumplestiltskin snorted even as his son made a sound that might have been a barely-contained chuckle across the carriage, cutting it off before he roused the blonde sleeping against his shoulder who would readily join in on the complaints over taking a carriage above any other form of transportation. Perhaps the Enchanted Forest wasn't exactly what she remembered it being from her brief visits.

Belle leaned into him again, playfully knocking their shoulders together as she spoke in hushed tones so as not to disturb Emma either. "I know magic would have made the trip easier, but-"

"I know," he huffed, though not bothering with whispers. His son shot him a glare and he shrugged. What did he care if she roused? He might get some support in the argument. It was an absurd argument anyway, as far as he was concerned. Maurice was spineless and showed it often enough. Belle had thought that to simply appear in the castle would have made him uneasy - her words, Rumple would have said _made him quake in his boots_ which would have been closer to the truth - and Snow had readily agreed that it would be best not to push at the early stages of an alliance with him.

"You two need to find common ground," Belle continued, her voice leaving him no room to cut in and argue. He knew the tone. He'd already lost this round, just like the last one and the one before that. Hell, he'd lost the moment that Snow and Charming had decided that they needed to reach out to Sir Maurice and his - in Rumple's opinion, worthless - army for an alliance. Belle had been the obvious choice for an ambassador to her father's castle and the Charmings had decided that it was a fine time for Emma to step outside of her comfort zone and begin establishing herself as the princess that she was. Needless to say, it was further outside her comfort zone than she'd been happy to approach and Bae had gotten roped into going with her - not that a spinner's son knew a great deal about courts and procedures that accompanied them, but he had spent nearly a year in her parents' court, so it had been good enough for her - but the real surprise had come when Belle had asked him to come along. Rumple had been quick to accept with the quip that it was really to make sure that her father allowed her to leave once their business was done. Well, she'd thought it was a quip and he hadn't told her otherwise.

Belle had reached out and taken his hand now, fingers lacing through his own. "I love you both very much and I'm not willing to give either of you up. Will you do this for me?"

"You know I can't deny you anything," Rumplestiltskin whispered, his voice low and unsteady as it left his throat.

"You hear that, Neal?" Emma's groggy voice sounded from a few feet away. "Your dad knows that's how it works. You should've gotten me out of this."

Baelfire laughed which, in hindsight, was probably not the smartest move he could have made as she sat up and took a half hearted swing at him. "Hey, I came along, didn't I? At least you don't have to suffer alone."

"I don't see _you_ in frills," she groused, motioning to the dress that was not, in all the grandness that could be in the Enchanted Forest, as frilly as they came. Three days' ride by coach would have been entirely hellish if she'd worn one of the dresses her mother had packed in the trunks that were riding atop the carriage. The terrible thing was that she knew she'd be expected to change into one of those once they got there. "So what exactly do we do on an ambassadorial visit?"

"I've never been on one, actually," Belle murmured thoughtfully. "My father's father was the second in line for the throne in our kingdom, so when his brother's son - the current king - was born he was given Avonlea, so while I'm of royal descent - _technically_ - I never really was coached in anything like that. I'm rather excited to find out though."

Emma looked like someone had spun her around and then told her to walk a straight line. "So your dad's a… Wait. His dad was… Nope."

Belle started laughing. "Trust me, it's really not worth it. Someone did something and someone ruled somewhere… Though I think that we may have received the better end of it. When not being attacked by ogres, Avonlea is one of the best towns you could ever hope to visit. Not that I'm biassed, of course."

"Does it… get attacked by ogres very often?" Emma managed, mind automatically going to the one time she'd experienced an ogre attack. Suddenly she thought that instead of teaching her ballroom etiquette her mother should have been instructing her on how to shoot a bow.

"Not anymore. Rumple saved us."

Rumplestiltskin waved a hand dismissively in the air. "I got the better end of the bargain, I assure you."

"Not sure you thought that right after I came to the Dark Castle," Belle teased.

"Wait, you were the price?" Emma demanded, whirling on her son's grandfather before Belle had a chance to explain. "What is with you and making deals for people? People are not currency!"

"Of course not," Rumplestiltskin answered with a slow smile that she'd learned well with her dealings with him as Mr Gold, "but their skills can often be. The person tends to come along with that."

When the carriage finally came to a stop and Emma almost tripped over her own feet - not to mention her dress - trying to pile out. Servants met her, instantly at either side and taking her hands to steady her. She shot Bae a dirty look when he laughed. "Yeah, you keep laughing in there. I know how you get after a ten hour car trip."

"Can't stretch you legs in a bug," he answered, showing no trouble at all in following her. She had decided that she was certain that his somewhat impish smile that he wore from time to time was something he'd gotten from his father. As he flashed it now it struck her that Henry had begun picking it up as well, especially when he was in trouble.

The servants helped Belle out, who didn't appear stiff at all. Rumplestiltskin might have, if magic had been wrapped tightly around his ankle to secure it without the need of his cane or walking stick. He'd brought it with him, the black one with the gold handle as opposed to the older one from before his curse that Bae had explained to Emma had markings from where he'd grown notched into it, but it was nowhere to be seen. Bae and Belle both knew why as they watched him take confident steps forward, offering an arm to Belle even as he did. Maurice wouldn't see any weakness from Rumplestiltskin today.

Emma let out a long whistle as she looked up at the castle. "So, I know you said you were a… princess removed or something like that, but that's a helleva nice castle for a princess removed."

Belle managed not to laugh too loudly as the doors opened and her father appeared. She looked up at Rumple and caught his dark eyes, an unspoken conversation happening between them before he released her arm that was looped through his so that she could move towards Maurice. "Papa!"

Maurice embraced his daughter readily, nearly pulling her off her feet. "My darling girl. It's been too long." He looked past her and offered a stiff bow to Emma. "Princess Emma, it is an honour to welcome you into my humble home."

"Hi," she managed and looked more awkward than before if that were possible.

"Papa, this is Baelfire - " Belle introduced, but quickly cut off her father's immediate reaction to begin peppering poor Bae with questions on where he was from "- and you remember Rumplestiltskin."

Maurice went pale as his eyes came to rest on Rumple. He'd obviously been caught up enough with his daughter's return home that he'd hardly noticed - though the sorcerer might have had something to do with that, if he were being a bit more honest than he usually was - but now his eyes widened at the sight of him standing in some of his tamer clothing of silk and dragonhyde vest. He looked more the part of an eccentric nobleman than the Dark One these days, but his presence caused the lord to stutter. "You never said-"

"_Papa_," Belle admonished, her bright eyes narrowed and he silenced almost immediately.

Bae leaned over to his father's ear. "She can do that with anyone can't she?" he asked and Rumplestiltskin's lips tipped in a knowing smirk.

"Sir Maurice," he drawled, the title coming out in a tone that was most certainly mocking, "while I'm flattered that you'll keep your daughter and the princess you're to meet with waiting outside the gates on _my_ account…"

"Of course!" Belle's father managed. "Please, Princess Emma, this way. We have rooms prepared for you and your… guests."

Emma nodded with a strained smile and followed them in, falling into step with her love's father after a moment. He shot her an amused look. "I don't think he remembers you, sheriff."

"It's the damn dress. Or the fact you probably beat the memories out of him. Belle know about that?"

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "She wouldn't be happy, but I had my reasons. I didn't do any permanent damage."

The blonde snorted and they followed the aging lord into his home.

* * *

If one thing was certain in the Enchanted Forest it was that pomp and circumstance would be observed in the presence of royalty. Bae felt like a waiter at a high-end event that had somehow convinced the crowd there that he was one of them when he'd really just put down his tray and flashed a smile. He'd pulled his fair share of cons before he'd met Emma so he could manage the smile that they expected well enough. The clothes had helped. It was hard to feel like a kid that grew up in some backwater little village when dressed like a prince. At least the discomfort didn't show, or at least he hoped it didn't.

He could tell his father wasn't any less uncomfortable than he was - though from what he'd said he had had plenty of experience dealing with royals over the years - and had barely budged during the entire meal. He seemed to know the motions to go through and Bae followed suit, but they'd been put several seats down from Belle and Emma, leaving them as outsiders even if they were close to the head of the table. They knew no one else here and the younger man was certain that if anyone actually tried to speak to him that the facade would shatter like a brick going through glass.

His papa had done well enough in his promise to Belle and together they weathered the meal. Before they'd left Belle had warned them - or perhaps the warning had truly been for Emma - what to expect. The ball was as extravagant as anything he'd seen Mary Margaret and David throw in their own palace. Women in their fine dresses and men dressed with ribbons from wars that had taken place over three decades before. Not that it seemed like it had been three decades before, not to them anyway.

"Everyone just picks right back up, don't they?"

Rumplestiltskin glanced at his son. "There's not a lot to pick back up on in a place like this," he drawled, motioning to the dance. "Nothing changes, curse or no." He paused, dark eyes taking in the crowd before flickering back to meet Bae's. "When are you going to ask her?"

His son had taken that moment to grab one of the passing champagne glasses and choked down the sip he'd taken. "Ask… what?"

"You know what I mean. Emma."

"_Papa_," Bae hissed and downed the rest of the drink in two large gulps before continuing, his voice a bit scratchier than it had been with the alcohol still burning at it. "Things are… complicated here."

"You were quick enough to propose to that girl that tried to kill you."

"Thanks, Pop. In my defense, I didn't _know_ she was crazy."

"Miss Swann seemed to," his father pointed out with a small smile. "My point is that matters between the two of you have always been complicated. You ran from this place and managed to fall in love with the one woman that brought you directly back into it."

"Not complaining."

"Nor I, but you can't start calling it complicated as if it hasn't always been."

Bae reached a hand up and ran it through his hair, eyes very much like his father's searching out where Emma was being introduced to Lord-Such-and-Such of the Such-and-Such-Lands with this, that, and everything else to offer. He knew how these things worked, or at least how they had years ago and he'd have bet anything that that was the one thing that never changed. "She's a princess," he breathed at last.

"That doesn't matter."

"Seriously? Have you met these people?"

"You've earned your place, unlike the majority of them. Do you love her?"

He didn't miss a beat. "Of course."

"Then don't _let_ it matter, son."

A small smile crossed his lips. "Never thought I'd be having this conversation with you. Much less about her." He made a face. "Much less about her in the Enchanted Forest in your girlfriend's castle."

Rumplestiltskin smiled, his own gaze finding Belle.

"What about you, Pop?"

"What about me?"

"Oh no. You don't get to pull that," Baelfire chuckled. "I know you love her. What's stopping you from asking her?"

Rumple's voice caught in his throat as their eyes met and Bae saw the tamed panic there. It must have been a question that he'd asked himself a million times over and found a million reasons to back out if he'd ever convinced himself to do it in the first place. Their travels with Milah had taught Bae just how badly his mother had damaged his father. The damage had ripped open old wounds that were ripped open again when he'd fallen through the portal and his papa had been left behind. Funny, in his dreams Bae had always seen Rumplestiltskin letting go of his hand, but now when he reached back into his memories he couldn't tell if he let go or if the he'd simply been pulled away.

"Papa, I-"

"What if she says no?"

The words were so honest that Baelfire stood and blinked at him for a moment. "Why would she say no?" he asked carefully after a moment, feeling like anything he said would be wrong.

"Because my father was right in one thing: I'm very good at being abandoned."

Bae reached out, hand resting against his father's shoulder. It is a terrible feeling when children are forced to realize that their parents are just as flawed as they are. He'd spent so much time hating him for his flaws that he couldn't understand as a child and since getting him back, he'd just focused on being grateful for that second chance. It didn't matter that sons shouldn't have to comfort their fathers. Only one father in the world was Rumplestiltskin and he was his only son. Unspoken rules such as that never really mattered much in their family.

He'd opened his mouth to tell him he was wrong, to tell him that he knew beyond any doubt that Belle loved him more than Milah ever could, more than Cora ever could, and that he'd finally found the one that would not leave him for anything, but a high-pitched scream shattered the words before they tumbled out. Both men turned towards it, eyes narrowed and everything tense in preparation for the next round of chaos.

"What was that?" Emma asked, suddenly at Bae's side.

"Don't know, but it came from the balcony."

A woman in all her finery was running as best as she could into the the ballroom, a gentleman backing in behind her with a sword drawn and looking up to the sky. "It's terrible!" she announced uselessly, nearly falling over herself in her haste to escape whatever she'd seen.

Bae was walking forward, Emma at his side. Belle met them halfway to where the doors to the balcony had been thrown open to give them a clear view of the dark, angry clouds that were coming towards them. It was no storm. Baelfire knew magic when he saw it.

"You!" Maurice called and they turned to see him pointing an angry finger accusingly at Rumplestiltskin. "What have you done?"

"He's cursed us!" another voice rang out. "The Dark One has cursed us!"

The murmured agreement passed through the room even as Rumple moved to stand with those he'd come with. His dark eyes watched the cloud seriously and his thin lips were pulled into a frown.

"Papa, what is that?"

"Nothing good." Something clicked in him and he yelled to those closest to the doors for them to be shut. It did little good as glass shattered inward and smoke poured in around them.

* * *

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

Billows of purple and grey smoke poured into the ballroom, the first wisps of it nipping at satin slippers before a magical barrier was thrown into place and the few puffs dissipated on that side of it. It was like a glass wall scrubbed so clean that you'd never see it save for the way the cloud built up against it, pushing through the shattered panes of the door.

"Can you stop it?" Emma called out above the roar that the raging storm of magic produced. It sounded like a tornado, and the strained expression on Rumplestiltskin's features proved just how strong those winds were.

Before he could answer the windows encircling the ballroom shattered, raining glass down on them with the mist flowing in after it. The shield he'd put up shimmered as it domed over the crowd, the people showing their first signs of intelligence to move inward so he didn't have to stretch it out quite as far. It pressed down from above now, hitting the top of his barrier and wafting down in waves.

"What the hell is it doing?"

"Looking for a crack in my spell to break it," the sorcerer managed through gritted teeth. He could try pushing it back. If the curse - it _felt_ like a curse, but there was something deeper to it too - was designed to move intelligently and break through defenses, then he might be able to show he was powerful enough to leave alone. If given the choice between existence and being obliterated by a more powerful wizard than the one that had cast it, a curse would choose existence every time. He would most likely be able to fight it back if he weren't trying to protect an entire room of what must have been a hundred or more people. He'd known his re-working of the Dark One curse had given him a full choice in his actions for the first time in ages, but that didn't mean that the inclination to snap Belle, Bae, and Emma up and disappear, leaving Maurice's kingdom to deal with _whatever_ this was was not there. One glance at Belle, though, and he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. He'd promised her friends and family would be safe. He'd stand by his word.

"Is there one?"

Rumple risked a glance back at Emma and it took him half a moment to put together what she was asking about. When he did, a humourless chuckle left him. "Every spell has a weakness, dearie. Good for us I know how to weave mine with precious few."

There was a loud sound from above that Rumplestiltskin first thought was the cloud itself, but then realized might have been the beams bending under the pressure of it. He didn't blame them. The sheer power of the cursed cloud was bearing down on them, forcing him into some form of action, though he hadn't quite decided on what. He might have the power of the Dark One still, but without his immortality to hold him together it was impossible to say how he'd weather that thing breaking through, or even trying to tackle it head on after wasting so much energy up to that point. The latter was appearing to be the only real option out of the two as waiting would guarantee being worn down by it.

Dark eyes flickered back and met his son's and then over to Belle as he gritted his teeth and gathered his courage. Now or never.

Rumplestiltskin pushed up and out with his magic, feeling the battle taking place against the cloud as well as working into it. If he could breach through it he should be able to disassemble it. It was difficult, but certainly not impossible. His magic threaded through, finding strengths and weaknesses and attacking both. A satisfied smirk perked his lips as it did so, and he felt victory just moments away. The look on Maurice's face would be well worth the effort. Let him call him a monster now, after saving his little town for a second time. He might even start wheedling him down so that Belle's negotiations with him went beyond expectations. Perhaps he'd made the right decision in coming after all.

But then it clicked, and as confident as Rumple had felt that he'd found the weak point, the curse _created_ one in his magic. He'd never felt anything like it before and with the force of the blow he almost expected to find a physical wound. It sent him to his knees, eyes wide and lips parted in what he was sure would come out as a pained scream. It didn't though, the sound leaving him as a choked gasp like someone had laid a solid blow to his middle and knocked the air from him. He could feel it eating away at his barrier, the magic sparking overhead as he tried to keep it in place.

The screams sounded distant, the voices unimportant save two as the cloud of smoke washed down over them and Rumplestiltskin choked against it.

He couldn't see anything as it came down around them and every breath in felt like he was dragging poison into his lungs rather than air. Perhaps he was. His lungs burned and as it worked its way through him it was like something might be clawing away at him from the inside.

A hand clutched at him from behind and he looked up and back to find a pair of hazel eyes instead of blue. Emma couldn't seem to find her breath either, but her own raw magic was enough to give the sorcerer the boost he needed. He didn't pause, didn't let himself calculate the price, he just pushed.

The combined magic worked and as quickly as it had come in at them the part of the cloud that had made it inside dissipated, leaving the room clear. The only signs that it had been there at all was the shattered glass, the frightened royals, and one particularly powerful sorcerer that had been taken to his knees. Slowly, Rumplestiltskin made it to his feet, leaning heavily to the left and his son was there to steady him.

"What did I just do?" Emma managed.

"Magic, dearie," Rumple answered, his voice not quite as strong as he would have liked. His head was throbbing and it still hurt to breathe.

"Rumple, what was that?" Belle asked softly, reaching a hand to him which he took gratefully. He couldn't explain it, but there was something about her immediate presence that could keep him on his feet as well as any spell he could cast. She was looking at him earnestly, even as her father bustled over.

"I'd like to know the same thing," Maurice grumbled out.

Rumplestiltskin shot him an irritated glance. "Funny, I was going to ask _you_ that," he snapped back, straightening his stance from where Bae had been been worried he might tilt and he took a step forward, voice biting. "What sorcerer did you mouth off to with enough power to cast that?"

Maurice gaped at him. "I didn't-"

"Well curses don't cast themselves, dearie," the Dark One growled and Belle laid a hand against his arm, feeling the small tremors running through him. He looked back, at least some of the sharpness softening when their eyes met and she saw the defence against the utter exhaustion that was pulling on him.

"Is it safe to let all of these people go home?" she asked softly.

Rumplestiltskin pulled in a breath and ignored the pain it causes as he reached out with his magic to all corners, searching for anything left behind. There were traces left on the shattered glass, but nothing that would cause any further trouble. The cloud had pulled back with his and Emma's combined efforts and had passed over Maurice's little town.

Belle's grip on his arm tightened and he turned to her, seeing the worry flash through her eyes when he didn't answer. "Yes. Yes it's safe," he whispered at last, feeling drained.

She offered him an encouraging smile before turning to her father. He heard them speaking, but the words were lost to him as they blurred together with the low rumblings of the other conversations. His mind tried to piece together what had happened and find exactly what it was that he knew was off. If his physical reactions were slow, his mind felt like it might be crawling like a snail compared to its usual rate. He didn't even hear Bae until his son had moved directly in front of him, a hand on either shoulder so that he was forced to look him directly in the eyes. "Papa?"

Rumple startled and was sure he would have swayed had Baelfire not had a good grip on him. "I'm here," he promised roughly.

"Liar." It had come out as a tease, but there was an underlying worry to his voice and reflected in his eyes.

His father offered a tired smile. "Just have to watch myself," he murmured quietly. "Price on this one took a bit more than I expected is all."

"But you're okay?"

"Indeed." He paused, not missing the look Bae shot him. "I will be, with rest."

This seemed to satisfy the younger man as an honest answer - or at least as honest as he'd get - and they turned, watching as people shuffled out, frightened and curious in one. Emma had inched closer, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She didn't say anything, to her credit, and Rumplestiltskin didn't offer any more. He didn't have anything left to offer at the rate he'd been going that night.

* * *

Baelfire had not liked the glazed look in his father's eyes even as they'd parted ways and he'd assured him for the countless time that he just needed sleep. Nothing about his stance proved his words true, but he'd finally relented when Belle had promised to check on him as soon as she'd finished seeing the last people out. The fact that Emma seemed to be receiving a fair amount of the bad side effects - the price, as Rumplestiltskin called it - might have had something to do with it too.

She'd been quiet as they moved into her room, never seeming to notice as he paused at the door, unsure of if she should follow or not. He watched her kick off her slippers, sitting on the bed and pulling her feet up to rub at them, grumbling the whole way.

"What are you looking at?" she groused.

Bae realized that he'd been watching her with what was likely the dopiest grin she'd seen him wear. Well, he _hoped_ he didn't make a habit of looking that much like an idiot when he was staring at her, but there was something funny and strange about the girl that he'd met in an alleyway in Oregon. They were older now and he hoped a bit wiser than the two thieves that they'd been, but even under the the silks that made up her dress, under the guise of a princess that she actually was, she was still very much the Emma he knew. Still the Emma that had laughed at his goofy jokes and had been willing to settle down with him. She was the same Emma that hadn't wanted to let him go when the bean had opened up the portal and was taking them both down with it. "I love you," he found himself saying, echoing the memory.

She straightened up a bit where she was sitting, her skirts taking up the whole end of the bed with her in the middle of them. "You too," she said, almost uncertain.

"Just thought you should know," he offered with a shrug.

Emma continued to study him for a moment longer before standing. "Well, you love me so much, help me figure out how to get this damn thing off?"

Bae found himself laughing as he crossed the space between them and she pulled her hair out of the way so that he could start in on the hooks in the back. He fiddled with them, unsure of exactly how to make them come apart and when she glanced back at him he offered a defensive look. _This_ had certainly never been a part of his childhood experiences in the Enchanted Forest.

"So what were your dad and you talking about so intently right before all hell broke loose?"

His hands stilled briefly, but not for so brief a time that she didn't notice and a smile crept to her lips. "Me, huh?"

"Might have been."

"What does he think about us anyway? He and I battled it out a couple times in Storybrooke."

"I think that's why he likes you," Bae sighed. "You're clever. He likes clever."

"Who'd have thought. I finally found a guy whose parent approves."

"Funny thing is when we first found each other neither of us _had_ parents."

"Funny thing," she agreed softly and turned, startling him with her abruptness. "Is this freaking you out?"

Baelfire was sure he lost several shades of colour in his face. "Is… what freaking me out?" he stammered and she motioned to her dress. "I think it's pretty, actually."

Emma's balled fist connected with his shoulder and she ignored his protest. "Jerk. You know what I mean."

"Oh, you mean the whole princess thing, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I…" He stopped, the quip or the smug remark that he might have made dying on his tongue as she stared at him. She was trying to pull the walls down, and for Emma, that was really something. He'd caused a lot of those walls, the thought, and a sigh escaped him. Wasn't he always telling his father to be honest with Belle? Time to follow some of his own advice. "Yeah, a little," he said softly.

"Why?"

"Because… Emma, seriously? You're a _princess_."

"So?"

"They marry princes or knights or some sort nobility that I don't even know what to call them. They don't marry guys without fancy titles."

"You want to marry me?"

He could hear the tease in her voice at the slip and he snorted. "I'm just saying that you being a princess _means_ something here."

Emma balanced up on her toes and he met her in the middle. Bae thought that the kiss might have broken down a dam that kept everything in its place. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up, pulling her with him as they fell back onto the bed laughing. The silliness of it wore off when she propped herself up. "So does this," she whispered, hazel eyes catching his own dark ones. "You _know_ I'm not great at this, but… But I want this to work, Neal. Not just for Henry… I mean, yes for Henry, but for us too. I want this to work for us."

He smiled, that same goofy grin he was now sure he wore whenever he saw her. No matter what had happened, they'd been set in each other's lives against the odds and they'd found each other again. "Me too."

* * *

After seeing the last of the guests out Belle had finally tugged off the silk gloves she was wearing and started off down the hall. Her father had offered to escort her to her room - she _knew_ what he was doing, did he think she didn't? - but she'd politely declined and very blatantly told him she was going to go check on Rumple. He'd grumbled about it as he shuffled off, but it was a start. She supposed at least he wasn't trying to openly change her feelings now. Not that he had a town line to toss her over…

Belle knocked softly on the door and pushed it open when she didn't hear an answer from inside. The room was dark, the candles snuffed out and the curtains pulled tightly shut so that only a stream of moonlight made it in. She waited for her eyes to adjust so that she could make out the still figure in the bed. Rumplestiltskin looked like he'd barely gotten to it before he'd collapsed headlong. His boots were hanging off the side and the bed hadn't even been turned back under him. She found herself smiling fondly as she inched closer, seeing him in a state that so few did. This was one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the lands, she had to remind herself.

He didn't stir when she sat on the bed with him, nor even when she laid down facing him, her body angled in a mirror image to his: catty cornered across the bed. Finally, when she reached up to brush stray hair from his face and called his name, he moaned lowly and blinked his eyes open. "Belle," he rasped.

"Hey," she greeted, fingers lingering a moment longer against his face. She didn't like the clamminess of his skin. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," he admitted softly, leaning into her touch.

"I can tell," Belle said through a laugh. "You know you're in bed with your boots on, don't you?" She continued to chuckle at him softly as he mumbled something she could never hope to understand. She leaned in, kissed his cheek and circled the bed to pull them off, silently thankful that they weren't the ones that laced up past his knees. These were simpler, smooth, and slipped on and off without too much trouble. She was convinced that Rumple had never actually laced the others by hand or he never would have bothered with them.

The left boot came off easy enough and she dropped it to the floor, but when she started to tug the right one off he let out a strangled, pained sound as he jolted up, suddenly wide awake. "I'm so sorry!" she managed, trying to calm him. The spell had worn off and the magical brace that had kept him on his bad ankle all day had left it weak and tender as it always did when he used it.

He settled fairly quickly, pulling his knee up nearly to his chin as he moved away from the source of the pain. It seemed to follow him anyway, though, as his brows knit together and his hands went to the old injury. Rumplestiltskin sat there for several long moments in the dark, pulling in deep breaths and letting them back out, eyes squeezed shut as he focused. Belle couldn't tell if he were trying to reach for his magic that was so depleted after that evening or if he were merely regaining control over himself. After a long moment he looked up and reached one hand out to her.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered again as she took it, allowing herself to be pulled close to him. She felt his arm go around her and she wrapped her arms around his thin neck.

"It's alright, sweetheart," he assured her softly. "You just startled me is all."

She knew it was more than that, but she didn't push it any further as he finally released her, working the boot off carefully himself. Once he'd done that he slipped out of the high-collared vest and dropped it after the boots before shifting back so he was lying properly lengthwise on the bed as opposed to how he had been. Belle scooted with him, her cheek pressed against the silk of his shirt and the sound of his heart beating steadily in her ear began to relax her.

"Your father will throw a fit if he knows you're in here," Rumplestiltskin chuckled as his nimble fingers tangled themselves in her hair.

"I don't care," she answered, sitting up so that she could look him in the eye. "I needed to know you're alright."

"Of course I am."

She tried to glare at him, but it was so difficult to stay angry at that smile. "I'm serious," she said instead, reaching a hand to his face and noticing how he leaned into the touch. He was not one for a great deal of human contact, but over time she'd learned that the smallest of gestures put him at better ease. He wanted her with him, even if he were afraid that he'd wake up one day and she'd be gone. He didn't voice the fear directly to her, of course, but she saw it in his eyes. Someday, she hoped, he'd be able to accept that she wasn't going anywhere. Until then she'd just have to prove it to him.

"As am I, dear," he murmured, eyelids drooping as sleep threatened to retake him.

"Do you mind if I stay?"

His eyes were closed now, but his smile answered and he wrapped an arm around her. She nestled back down, ear pressed against his chest so she could remind herself that he was alive and with her.

* * *

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: So... Anyone else as excited for crazy Rumple as I was last night? Granted, I was all revved up for a full-on Rumplestiltskin episode, but alas, that looks like it's going to be next week. I hear there's one coming, but patience has never been my strong suit. For those that loved last night's episode as much as I did, I'd suggest hopping over to Robin4's page and reading her short _Feed the Madness_. I cannot give it high enough praise!

* * *

**Chapter Three.**

He'd been up before the sun, finally limping his way into the empty ballroom just as the earliest light was creeping in through where there had been windows and a door the night before. Rumplestiltskin surveyed the damaged, grateful that the servants had not cleared it away just yet. His connection to his magic had been there that morning when he woke, though weakened, so he had opted for his cane - tucked away in Belle's trunk - as to the spell that would slowly eat away had what reserve he had left. After all, he'd most likely need that for his investigation.

Three hundred years of a wide range of magical study had left him with a great deal of knowledge. His personal favourites had always been those curses that no one bothered with. They were usually old, gathering dust on their brittle scrolls when he uncovered them and he was able to coax the magic back into it. He hadn't limited himself, though, and that had been part of the fun for the spinner that had been lucky enough to know how to read a bit, much less follow any course of study outside of his own trade. Because of this, it was rare to come across something that had felt as foreign as the magic had the night before. It had been a curse, he was sure, but a properly trained a sorcerer should be able to get a sense of the caster when as close to it as he'd been. When the Dark Curse had filtered into the mines below Snow White and Charming's castle and the smoke had filled his lungs and whisked them all of to Storybrooke the first time Regina had been all through it. He'd felt her anger and her malice, her desperation woven into the curse. So desperate she'd killed the only person she had had left to love just to cast it. He'd known she would. He'd counted on that desperation.

In the curse that had shattered its way into the ballroom, though, there had been nothing like that. There was no desperate hate nor even calculated intent. There were no emotions at all and if there was one thing that Rumplestiltskin knew it was that to cast any form of magic one _must_ be able to harness the emotions to do so, especially magic of that magnitude. He stopped, thinking on that in the quiet of the empty room, and surveyed the damage, trying to wrap his still-tired mind around what he knew.

It had been intelligent in the way that it had been adaptable to his attacks. That meant a very highly skilled sorcerer and he could name those that were still alive on one hand, including himself. It hadn't broken through his attack, it had eaten away at it. His mind's eye could still see his own magic working its way into the cloud, ready to blow it apart from the inside. He'd found crevices and had looked for the thread to pull, but it had been like it was waiting for him to put enough of himself into it to latch on and eat through his magic, disintegrating it in a way that he had never seen before. Then there was the way it had filled him up inside, ripping and shredding and clawing. It had felt like someone had tilted acid down his throat and forced him to swallow. He could still feel the effects of it in his chest and his head ached terribly from it. All in all, it was like nothing he had never seen before, and while that would usually excite him, he'd have much rathered it to come in a different manner.

"Find anything useful?"

Rumple turned, finding Emma Swan in clothes that she must have brought with her from Storybrooke. She didn't look like she felt much better than she had the night before and she'd pilfered a cup from the kitchens with a drink that was close enough to coffee for her to call it that and accept it.

"Not sure yet," he answered at length, dark eyes looking up and down what was left of the door. He picked his way through the glass and stepped out onto the ledge and found no damage there. It had only taken down what it needed to to reach in to them, but why?

"Does a migraine always accompany you leaching magic?" Emma called out to him and he thought it sounded like she was trying to lighten the mood, but it was difficult to tell.

"I didn't _leach_ magic," he huffed, moving back in. "You simply provided the boost needed. And no, that is not a typical side effect. To be a bit tired from it would be normal from what you did."

"So it was that cloud?"

"It's looking that way. Bae wasn't ill last night?"

"No."

"Neither was Belle." His eyes met hers and he saw the look that said she hadn't had enough caffeine yet. "They do not use magic."

"So it was magic that attacks magic?"

Rumple squeezed his eyes shut and his free hand went to the bridge of his nose to try to work away some of the pressure there. "Whatever this was… I've never seen it before."

She made a sound of acknowledgement as he stooped down, taking hold of a piece of glass. As his fingers touched it, the glass fogged over in the same dark purple-grey that the cloud had been, swirling as if it were trying to escape where it had been left and he could feel more power radiating off of it than should have been. His skin burned where he held it and he dropped it, a hiss of pain escaping him and he swayed.

"What the hell was that?"

"The part that didn't escape. No, don't touch that," he snapped at her as she was leaning to inspect a different piece.

"This'll fade, won't it? You were able to push it away before it had any lasting damage?"

"I believe so," the Dark One murmured, though he could hear the hesitation in his own voice and he didn't like it one bit.

"Well, if you're done poking around, I think Neal was planning to be up for breakfast… sooner or later. Guess a decade between doesn't change a guy into a morning person, huh?"

"Nor do centuries," Rumplestiltskin answered with a wan smile.

* * *

Bae had managed to wander his way in to the room where Maurice had assured them that breakfast would be waiting that morning sometime after his father and Emma had already sat down and sounded to be discussing the events of the night before. Well, Rumplestiltskin was bouncing ideas and theories around as Emma stared at him, trying not to look too ignorant on a subject she'd never studied. She was clever and quick to learn, there was no denying that, but Bae was pretty sure his papa had her beat in this field.

She turned hazel eyes in him as he entered and lifted the cup she was holding. "They have coffee in this kingdom, Neal," she announced as if that alone might solve their problems.

He took the offered cup and inhaled, the scent old but familiar. They'd brewed something similar in the Frontlands. It had been weaker, of course, but it had covered up the taste if dirty water. "It's a little different from coffee," he said at last after a long gulp of the hot drink. "It's-"

Emma shot him a glare. "It has caffeine in it. Nothing else matters," she cut him off and Bae held his hands up in a nonthreatening gesture and moved to sit so his father was between them.

Rumplestiltskin chuckled. "In any other case you know I'd lay my life down to protect you, son, but you're on your own with her."

"Thanks a lot, Pop," Bae groused and received a smile he could never believe was innocent for all his efforts. He took another long swallow of the almost-coffee and glanced around. "Belle's never been a late sleeper, has she?"

"She's in speaking with her father and his advisors," Rumple answered with a frown.

"So what happened between the two of you, anyway? You and Maurice."

"What makes you say something happened?" his father asked.

"Because I'm not blind. Or deaf. Or stupid."

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "He never took well to my price to save their little town. It was Belle's choice, but he was convinced I kept her against her will."

"The fact that you nearly beat him to death probably didn't help all that," Emma popped off as she shoved a pastry in her mouth and Bae shot his father a look.

"Really, Papa?"

Rumple snorted. "I didn't break anything he needed, and in my defense I was under the impression he'd had Belle killed."

"I'd like to point out that this was _before_ the curse broke. Moe had no clue what he was being beaten for."

"He broke into my house and ransacked it. I think he had a pretty good idea, it just wasn't the whole idea."

Bae took another sip of his drink as his father and love continued back and forth about it, Emma never falling behind in the verbal sparring. He probably would never hear the story in full, but it sounded like something that they would have both been caught up in. It was probably best logged back in _things he didn't really _want_ to know further details on_. The number of half-stories he'd heard since his father had come back that were put into that nice little place in his mind had grown.

They never found out who would have won as the door pushed open and Belle entered silently, looking worn before the day had truly gotten under way. She took a seat directly across from Rumple and reached sluggishly for the food.

"That bad, huh?" Bae asked.

"We finally shuffled everyone out late last night and I woke up when Rumple did to start to handle the questions this morning." She turned tired blue eyes towards her love. "Anything yet?"

"It seems to only react to those of us that use magic."

"Well that will put them at ease, at least, if not us. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, well enough," he answered her lightly.

"You don't look like it," Belle murmured.

Bae watched from his spot as the young woman across the table perked, suddenly entirely alert and focused on his father. Her eyes were sharper than they had been when she entered and her shoulders back. Her expression was even enough, but there was a silent conversation between them that he couldn't have hoped to understand. Belle was quite adept at conversations without words, but it seemed she used an entirely different sort of language depending on just who she was communicating with. He shifted his gaze to Rumplestiltskin who looked almost ready to be scolded. There was a tenseness there, waiting. The non-verbal argument continued and Emma looked ready to jump up and find any excuse to leave the room. Baelfire marveled at the shift, though, obvious to anyone who was watching, and Rumple's shoulders sagged. All at once, like the facade was simply washed away, the glamour that Bae hadn't known was there fading and revealed the dark circles under brown eyes. He looked exhausted, like any sleep he'd actually received the night before had done him little to no good and he was pale. With the glamour done away with, Bae could even see the slight tremors that ran through him where he sat, his hand trembling even as he reached across the table to grab something to eat, though it was likely just an excuse to break eye contact with Belle. When he refused to look back at her she stood, circling the table and he didn't move an inch as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, embracing him and pressing a kiss against the top of his head.

"Thank you," she whispered and he leaned back into her.

It was strange, watching the exchange. Bae wasn't sure he'd ever be entirely used to it, no matter how much he approved. If he thought back hard, he could dredge up a few memories of when Milah had been around them, the only other woman he'd ever seen his father with. She had always been biting, ready to announce any failure on Rumplestiltskin's side and any victory on her own. Belle was never like that. Oh, he'd heard them tease each other often enough when they both knew an argument was silly, but when it was serious she never belittled him. She didn't pull punches, either, that much Bae had found out for himself in the near year his father had been gone and he'd formed a friendship with the fiery librarian, but she never set out to cause him harm in any way. Where Milah had torn him down at every turn, Belle built him up.

A sharp knock at the door announced a servant that almost immediately entered. He bowed stiffly and turned his gaze on Emma. "Your highness, a letter has come to you this morning."

The blonde took it, muttering her thanks as she tore open a seal that she thought was her own family's and her eyes skimmed the page. As she read her lips twitched downward and finally she looked at Bae. "We have to go."

"We just got here. You and Papa could use some rest after yesterday and-"

Emma waved the paper at him and he took hold of it. "That same cloud went through their castle. Henry's sick."

"Henry?" Baelfire echoed as he skimmed the rest of the note. "Regina I get, but why Henry? Since when has he-"

"Your boy does have raw talent," Rumplestiltskin murmured, his voice rougher than it had been earlier. Apparently the glamour altered more than just physical appearance.

"Henry can do magic?" Bae managed.

"Don't sound so surprised, son. Emma could do so much more if she put even half her mind to it."

"Yeah, but how do _you_ know what Henry can do?" Emma demanded.

"You don't have to sound so accusing, dear," the sorcerer said as he stood slowly, reaching for his cane with slow movements. "He wanted to learn while we were in Storybrooke, so I taught him a few tricks. Nothing dark and terrible, I assure you."

Emma ripped the note from Bae's hands and waved it in his father's face. "And by doing so you put my son in danger."

"Okay, this is getting us nowhere," Baelfire cut in. "Pop, can you get us home?"

"Yes."

"Good. We'll deal with the you-teaching-Henry-magic thing later. Right now, let's go make sure he's okay."

Less than an hour later everything was packed and they were standing in the great hall, Belle saying goodbye to her father and promising to send any information that Rumplestiltskin uncovered his way if it would affect the town. He'd taken pieces of the broken glass with him, carefully wrapped up and tucked away and now he stood, waiting on them. He was leaning heavily on his cane when Bae approached him and his son didn't miss how he startled at the sound of his voice. "Hey, you sure you'll be good to get us back to the castle?"

Rumple gave a stiff nod. "Yes."

"Then we're ready."

He gave another nod and without a word there was the distinct pull of magic whisking them from one spot to another. Bae couldn't say he was used to it, but he handled it much better than he had as a child. Then it had been so sudden, his father never _wanting_ him to know what he was about to do, and it had always felt as if he'd left part of himself where they'd been before. Knowing helped. At least it did most of the time. They all swayed a bit as they appeared in Snow White's castle, but only Rumplestiltskin pitched entirely forward to the stones.

* * *

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four.**

He'd felt it start to give even as the magic wrapped around them, but he held onto it with everything he had. Letting go mid-way through would have been a death sentence. He'd fought with another sorcerer once that it had happened to. He'd landed a hard blow to just as the other man had meant to teleport out of the way, and when he'd fallen back into existence he'd looked like something had tried to tear him limb from limb. It hadn't been his attack that had done it, not directly, but the fact that he'd let go.

So Rumplestiltskin had held on, knowing that Bae and Belle were with him, and when they'd appeared in Snow's castle, just inside the courtyard, he had had no time for relief before his body rebelled against him. He hit the ground hard, nothing there to soften the fall, and much to his own irritation he curled up into himself, a terrible cough bubbling up in his throat.

He could hear shouting, but not what they were saying. Rumple couldn't seem to get enough breath in after a moment to continue with the cough that wouldn't leave him. It started deep in his chest and clawed its way up through his throat, taking the air that he needed to breathe with it. He couldn't have guessed how long it went on, but finally it subsided and he lay there shivering for a moment before a hand touched his face. "Belle," he called, or tried to, but the name left his lips in such a faint whisper even he didn't hear it.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know. Rumple?"

He tried to focus. He tried to answer. Neither his magic nor his body were obeying his commands. It took a moment to realize that his eyes were still squeezed closed and that he couldn't actually see them. He knew it was Belle's hand on his face, pressed against his neck to check for a pulse, and he would have known his son's voice anywhere tell Emma to check on Henry, he'd be along in just a moment. Rumplestiltskin tried with everything he had in him to respond, but even as he did he could feel himself sinking deeper and his last conscious thought was that he'd be damned if he'd forfeit his life to some unknown curse.

* * *

When the Blue Fairy had betrayed Snow White, Charming, and the rest of them it had split the fairies down the middle as to what to do. Several had left that life that they knew, coming to stay fully at Snow's castle in the Enchanted Forest, Tink and Astrid leading the way. Beyond them, there were a handful of other magic users and those touched by magic in the immediate area.

Regina had been hit the hardest in Snow's palace. From what Belle was told, she'd collapsed fully after trying to hold off the storm of magic and hadn't roused at all for hours, and then only to beg for Henry. Ruby had been affected by it, having been touched by magic if nothing else, and even Granny seemed to be having the same troubles as Emma was. No one had any better of an idea as to what had happened and had hoped for more insight from Rumplestiltskin when they'd sent for the party.

More questions than answers had followed their arrival and Rumple had collapsed, choking and convulsing as if his own magic had attacked him. Belle couldn't say if that were the case or not, but whatever it was had set a deeper fear in her than she'd known in a long time. Perhaps even more than the Mallicade incident. At least with that they had known who they were fighting.

"How's he doing?"

Belle looked up from her book that she'd pulled from Rumple's library. He'd transferred it to Snow's palace for her when they'd found themselves there more than home and she had grabbed several volumes that were stacked on the table next to their bed. Baelfire looked worn and not a little uncertain in everything. She knew that he prefered physical foes as well. Most people did.

"He still hasn't woken," she sighed at last, marking the page in the second volume on rare curses that she'd looked through in the hours that had followed their arrival. "Stirred a bit and his fever has gone up, but he hasn't woken. How's Henry?"

It was Baelfire's turn to let out a long breath in the form of a sigh. "Not good. I was hoping… I mean, I want him to wake up so he's okay, but…"

She offered an encouraging smile. "It's alright to be worried about your son, Bae. He understands, even if he's not awake to tell you himself."

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That he was teaching him?"

"He never mentioned it to me, though I'm not surprised. He knew no one would encourage it - Regina would be furious if she knew that he was teaching Henry and she wasn't - and he's very fond of him. I think, on a level that he may not even recognize, Henry is a second chance for him. He's nearly the age you were when you two were separated, isn't he?"

Bae blinked and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I guess he is getting close to that."

"Just… remember that when you talk to him about it. I'm not saying that you should or shouldn't let him teach Henry, but just let him know that you're not pulling his grandson from him."

"I wouldn't."

Belle gave a soft laugh, reaching over to smooth Rumple's hair back as she spoke. "I know that, you know that, but Rumple's very frightened of losing people."

"I know he is."

Rumplestiltskin stirred under her touch, a cough shaking him she shushed him. After a moment of painful wheezing that made them both cringe, dark eyes fluttered open, squinting and trying to focus. Belle broke out in a smile despite everything. "Hey."

"Hey," Rumple managed back. He looked around, finding his son standing a few feet away and reached a trembling hand out for him.

Bae moved quickly and took it, their eyes meeting. He couldn't shake the memory of Hook's poison and the way he'd reached for him when they'd both thought he was dying in the back of his shop. He'd told himself at the time that he hadn't forgiven him just yet, that he wouldn't, but he'd taken his hand and held onto it just as he was doing now.

"Henry?" his father asked in a raspy voice.

"Not good. His fever's high and he's sleeping a lot. He's…" Baelfire sank to the floor, kneeling the floor and grasping his father's hand. "Papa, I need to know how to help him."

Pain flashed through Rumplestiltskin's dark eyes he grimaced. "I don't know… Not yet." Determination cut through the pain and he gripped his son's hand harder. "Help me up. I had a small satchel with those broken glass pieces when we came through. Where did it go?"

Bae didn't pull him up like Rumple had expected him to. "Are you insane? You're not getting up. Did you miss the part where you passed out earlier because of all of this?"

"Do you want to find a way to save Henry or not, Bae?"

The question was so pointed that Baelfire felt the colour drain from his face. "I can't choose, Papa."

"I'm not asking you to choose between us, son. I have no intention of dying today . Just help me up so we can save your boy."

Bae's eyes darted to where Belle was picking herself up off the bed now, smoothing out her skirts and coming around the other side. She was resigned, though not happy with the situation. He frowned and pulled his father up, immediately moving to sling one arm around his shoulder and take a good majority of his weight. "Where, exactly, are we going?" he asked as Belle took hold of Rumple's other arm to balance him.

"I need those shards and I need to be able to study them," Rumplestiltskin managed to get out, the last part of the sentence barely making it before he started choking again.

They had made it halfway to the door at that point and Belle squeezed his arm. "Rumple, you're not going to be able to stand to study it, much less-"

A smile stretched his lips as he tried to catch his breath, taking another step and they moved with him. "I will need your help, Belle."

"My help? You know I don't know how to-"

"I'll instruct you. You'll be my steady hands, won't you?"

Her argument washed away and she sighed. "Of course."

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Rumplestiltskin to realize that, while the Dark Castle was home, they would be spending more time in Snow and David's castle than his own. It hadn't been entirely the Charmings' fault, though their consistent questions on various bits of his rather vast magical knowledge had kept him close at hand, but he could have very easily have popped back and forth, bringing Belle along when she was needed or when she wanted to go. No, he spent his time away from the place he and Belle both called home for the same reason that he'd come back to the Enchanted Forest: Bae.

When he'd finally had to admit that Bae was not going to be swayed away from the Charming's castle and that the room that was meant to be _very_ temporary had somehow become his and Belle's, Rumple had decided to bring the things he needed to where they were. He'd taken over a little room with stone floors and walls and a small window that often saw smokes of varying colours pouring out of it in the middle of the night. His vials and his other equipment for study had been magicked over, perfectly intact and some still oozing with strange experiments half-finished. In the far corner he kept his spinning wheel.

Snow had demanded to see the room when she'd first heard he had procured it, reminding him that it was her castle that he had taken up residence in. He had easily responded that he could take himself, his volumes and volumes of books with all sorts of magical histories written in them, and everything that came with it back to the Dark Castle where she wouldn't have to be bothered by him again. The power struggle had been brief, but Snow liked to think of herself as practical and had relented, asking only that he keep the stranger experiments to a minimum and that he would do his best not to blow up their home. It had, after all, taken quite a while to put it back together.

Now he found himself in that little room, unable to control the tremors that shook him from head to toe. Bae had brought the glass shards he needed in and had stayed as long as he thought he could, but Rumple had nearly kicked him out, telling him to go look after Henry. It hadn't taken too much convincing.

Rumplestiltskin instructed Belle on what to pour and when. Her hands proved as steady as he knew they would, carefully measuring out what he needed even when he'd doubled over and nearly fallen out of the chair coughing at one point. His fever was raging and there were times when his focus went in and out, but she always brought him back, remind him exactly what he was doing and what his last instructions had been.

"Is this considered magic?" Belle asked as she tipped blue liquid into an already purplish mixture, watching it bubble and fizz.

"Yes, in a way," Rumplestiltskin answered her in a whisper, feeling the room spin again. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and he couldn't be sure how long ago that was. Perhaps a full day had passed. Everything was happening so fast that it had blurred together, but his bouts of unconsciousness probably hadn't helped with that. "The magic isn't yours. It shouldn't hurt you."

"I wasn't worried about that."

"I was."

She smiled fondly at him and walked set the solution down over the burner. "Five minutes?"

"Yes," he coughed, bringing the handkerchief back up to his mouth as he did so. He pulled it away and clutched it in his hands, though not fast enough for her to miss.

"Rumple?"

"Mm?" he managed.

Belle reached a hand out in a gesture that he knew gave him little choice. He didn't have the energy to fight her on this, nor would it do him any good. He held it out, the flecks of blood showing the damage the curse had done to him and she winced. "This is the last part?"

"If it's right."

"Is it a cure?"

He'd hoped the shards of glass would provide more insight into the curse, but there hadn't been nearly enough left swirling around for him to take hold of. "No. For that we'll have to find the source. For now, at least, we can replicate enough to find something that will hold off the effects."

"This will just buy us time," she whispered, glancing at the blotted handkerchief. "Something we need now more than anything."

He nodded his agreement, not risking the words until he felt he could breathe again. By the time the almost-fit passed he looked over to the flask suspended over the burner. "Check it. It'll be dark and watery."

"It is," Belle answered, shifting the whole structure over towards him so that he could see.

When he nodded again she eased it away from the burner with a pair of tongs and he reached out and simply took it. "It's not as hot as you'd think." She didn't have time to agree or disagree as he tipped the liquid back and down his throat.

They both waited and very slowly Rumplestiltskin's trembles began to subside. He stretched a hand out, finding it mostly steady and he stood slowly and carefully, swaying only a moment as he braced himself against the table. "Well there it is," he murmured, flashing Belle a wide smile.

* * *

It was rare that Rumplestiltskin handed any sort of magical recipe or elixir off without a steep price attached to it. Those were the types that kept on giving and he didn't let go easily. This time, however, he pushed it off on the first competent soul that could make a batch if it. He'd handled Emma's, Henry's, and Regina's personally, finally tucking a vile away into his vest as he and Belle started for the main hall.

"Saving it for a rainy day?" she asked in a teasing voice, and he knew she was trying to lighten his mood.

Rumple offered her a tight smile. "I fear it'll come a storm before this is all over with." He hadn't been allowed into Henry's room even when he'd brought the elixir, Regina conscious enough to blame him if nothing else. The threats hadn't begun in earnest until after she'd drunk the liquid, feeling well enough to warn him that if his attempts to teach Henry magic cost her son his life that it would cost him his as well. He'd let her yell it out in the hallway, not bothering to remind her that what was done was done and that neither of them knew enough about this curse to know if Henry could have avoided it even if his grandfather had left it all well enough alone.

"I can't lose him again," she'd managed after the boiling rage had left her sagging against the wall.

Rumple supposed that it was better to receive the straight forward threats than the look he'd received from Emma through the cracked door. He'd be lucky if he ever saw his son after all of this was done and over, much less his grandson.

David was standing in the middle of the main hall, a map spread out in front of him. Snow stood with him and Bae was in his other side. A bit of the dread loosened in Rumplestiltskin's chest as his son turned, looking relieved to see him up rather than angry. The younger man pulled his father into a hug as he approached, allowing the rest of the uncertainty to dissipate.

"You look better than you did when you got here," David acknowledged.

"For now. That elixir won't last forever. It's working to block the effects, but time and any sort of magic use will weaken it." Dark eyes flittered to the map that they'd been going over. They'd been marking it, obviously having received more information since Rumple had last heard.

"We've been receiving reports from here, here, and here," Baelfire said as he pointed across the map. "From what we understand, the first place the cloud hit was way over this direction. It hit here that afternoon and Maurice's castle that night. We've narrowed down its point of origin to this place. Know it?"

Rumplestiltskin pushed a long breath out through his nose, dark eyes following to where his son had indicated, but it was Belle that spoke.

"That's the Valley of Lights. It's said that some of the strongest magic in the lands was birthed there. But that's just the legend, isn't it?"

Rumple gave a small shrug. "All legends have some basis in truth, in my experience."

"Have you ever been there?" Charming asked.

Dark eyes narrowed at the map. "No," he answered taughtly.

If they were going to receive anything further the brief knock at the door stopped it. David called for the person to enter and a shaking scrap of a boy appeared, looking nervously between the king, queen, and the others. "M'lord, there is a visitor," he managed to squeak out.

Snow offered the boy a smile. "Who is it?"

"The Blue Fairy, my queen."

The dark haired ruler sighed. "I didn't even think about Blue... We haven't seen her since we came back." She turned back to the lad. "Tell her that I will be with her in a moment."

"Forgive me, but she was very specific." The boy looked ready to turn and flee, but seemed to muster his courage as his eyes darted to Rumplestiltskin for the first time. "She will only speak to the Dark One."

* * *

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

Rumplestiltskin was sure he probably looked about as bad as he felt, but that didn't stop him from squaring his shoulders and tilting his chin up as he approached the Blue Fairy. He stopped just a few feet outside of the doors that closed behind him, centering his cane in front of him and cleared his throat, causing her to jump. "We don't have all day, dearie."

She hardly looked herself as she approached him and he could tell that she'd been caught up in this curse as well. Her hair, usually curled and piled high on her head was knotted at the base of her skull, sections of it escaping in a frizzed manner all across her head. Gone was the shimmering blue dress and it was replaced with a much simpler one not unlike the one she wore as Mother Superior, but perhaps not cut quite so modestly. If Rumple hadn't known better, he would have thought she'd lost her wings in her exile, but the fact that she looked ready to topple over from the curse proved that she certainly hadn't lost faith in her own goodness. He resisted the urge to gag.

"I didn't know if you'd come," she admitted softly.

"And now you're just wasting my time."

"Wait!" she called as he started to turn. "You created an elixir."

"My my, news does travel fast doesn't it? Come to beg for some, dearie?"

"I've known you too long for that. Begging does no good with you."

"You're still wasting my time, so if you don't mind-"

"I have something in exchange."

Rumplestiltskin snorted. "What could _you_ possibly have that I would want?"

"It's not what you want. It's what you _need_. The source of this curse is emanating from the Valley of Lights. You may have manipulated your curse, Rumplestiltskin, but you're still too dark of a creature to enter into the likes of that valley without help."

"And what? _You_ are going to lead me in there?" Little dark voice gone or not, a giggle bubbled inside of him. Oh this was quaint. "After all you've done?"

"Everything I've done was for the greater good."

"And you'd do it again, wouldn't you, dearie?" Rumple asked, leaning forward so that he was very much in her personal space, his voice pitching up in a way that he knew would make her uncomfortable and his left hand fluttered as he spoke. "As luck would have it, I do have one vial left." His smile stretched and she squirmed. The look on her face told him that if he told her to drop to her knees and beg him that she might do just that. It was tempting, and part of him sorely wanted to, but they were on borrowed time as it was. Teaching the Blue Fairy how to properly grovel would have to be set aside for now, no matter how satisfying it would be. "Well then," he drawled instead, still unnervingly close, "here's where we stand: you'll lead us - let's say myself, Belle, perhaps Bae, and I'm sure one or both of the Charmings will want to tag along - into the Valley. You will allow the Dark One passage into a place considered by the fairies to be sacred for its light magic."

Her frown only deepened at the last statement. "And you'll help defeat whatever is poisoning us?"

"Yes yes, I'm willing to do that."

"And you'll provide the elixir now?"

"So demanding. I suppose I must, if I want you to be any good at all. That's it then. You know the terms. Tell me, Reul Ghorm, do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Rumplestiltskin," she answered slowly, "we have a deal."

* * *

"What in all the worlds that exist could have possessed you to strike that deal with _her_?" Baelfire demanded as he strode into his father's room without knocking. "I know you've got some trick up your sleeve. You had better, anyway, because in case you'd forgotten, that's the fairy that had you tortured and then tried to kill you again after kidnapping my son."

"I am aware," Rumplestiltskin answered evenly, tucking a cloak into his bag. He really had no idea what he should pack to take with them. He hadn't packed in… Well, longer than he could remember. Even when he'd shown up at Emma's door and called his favour in, whisking she and Henry off to Manhattan to chase down his son, he'd been so fixated on the goal at hand that he hadn't bothered with a bag. Here, he didn't need it. He could pull most anything he needed through magic into his hands. That was the problem, though, in that every time he even reached for his magic it was going to eat at the elixir in his veins. They didn't have time to travel by horse to the valley, so he'd have to teleport them there anyway. That, within itself, could leave him reeling on the other side. He had no way of knowing. Best to not push his chances with anything else.

"Then what were you thinking, Papa?" Bae asked as he all but collapsed on the bed, staring up at his father.

A knowing smile crossed the elder man's lips. "I knew exactly what I was doing, Bae. I knew she'd come. I knew the deal she'd want to make with me and the only thing she could offer that was worth anything at all. She knew it too." The smile broadened, almost making him appear as though it were any other day. "When two parties both need something from the other, a deal can always be struck. She was just desperate enough to strike it."

"What'd you give her?"

"The elixir bottle. Don't worry, there's more. I'm not going to say it's easy to make, but there's certainly enough to hold everyone until we reach our goal."

"And what did you need from her?"

"To open the door, of course. She's right, the Dark One can't go waltzing into the Valley of Lights without some sort of help."

"But you're not the Dark One anymore, Papa."

Rumple shrugged. "Not a bundle of goodwill to my fellow man, either," he sing-songed, hand waving irritably before he latched the satchel closed.

"Neither is she," Bae murmured darkly.

"No, but try telling _her_ that. Fairies run on belief, including their own. No one believes in the Blue Fairy more than the Blue Fairy. For once, I'm counting on that. "

"How do you know that this thing will still be protected? This curse has eaten at everything else magical. Why would something at it's center get away from it?"

"Trust me, son, it's protected. This place is old. Very old."

Baelfire nodded and stood. "We're ready when you are."

Rumple stiffened slightly. "You're not staying with Henry?"

"What good am I doing him here? Anyway," Bae said softly, offering his father a fond smile, "it takes two of us to watch your back when your goal is to save a family member."

"Listen, about my teaching Henry…"

"We'll talk about it later, Pop. We _will_ talk about it, but, for now, let's just focus on getting everyone out of this alive."

That did seem to be their running mantra as of late. Charming echoed nearly the exact same words as they gathered in the main hall. Rumple had called it. The party would consist of the young king, himself, Belle, and Baelfire. Blue had been added as well and Bae did not appear to be the only one uncomfortable with that decision, just the only one that loudly protested it.

"I should be able to put us down not far from the entrance. Our _dear friend_ Blue -" no one missed the sarcasm that the words had been drenched in - "will provide us passageway through said opening."

"What if you can't get us all the way there?" Blue asked.

"I'll get us there," Rumplestiltskin snapped back. "Though it may be a rough ride."

Belle reached out and took his hand that was not grasping the top of his cane. "Whenever you're ready."

The dark red smoke surrounded them, pulling them through and it was an instant later that they'd landed in a forest that looked only vaguely different than their home. It was brighter, somehow, though silent and seemingly devoid of the usual chirping of the birds that filled the trees in any other forest that they'd been in. There was no way to tell if it might be like this naturally or if the cloud of purple-grey smoke that was rolling in on itself in the valley down below - surrounded in part by a mountain which gave it the unnerving appearance of a magic-filled volcano - was the cause. Certainly nothing would want to live near that.

Rumplestiltskin stumbled as they landed, but he did not fall this time. Bae steadied him and he realized that Belle still had a deathgrip on his hand. He squeezed her fingers and turned his dark gaze towards the smoke.

"I don't get it," David murmured as he looked on. "Only dark sorcerers cast curses, and to have been powerful enough to cast a curse like that that covered the whole land… How could they have passed through a sacred site to cast it?"

"There are a lot of unanswered questions here," Rumple said lowly, his voice scratching at his throat as it left him. "That's where we'll find them though."

"You can't… look into the future or something?"

Brown eyes met blue. "If I wanted to hasten my demise, sure. As of right now, to let that particular floodgate open would drive me mad without using my magic to control it."

"Rumple, don't you have to use it to keep it away as well?" Belle asked softly. She did know him well.

A smile stretched thinly. "M'dear, magic is woven into most everything I do on some level. That's why this elixir eats away faster in me than it will any of the others." His eyes flashed as he looked at Blue. "Save perhaps you."

"Fairies are magical creatures at our core."

"Doesn't change the fact," Rumplestiltskin snapped and took a shaking step forward. "You know this land, though and I don't have useful access to my Sight. Tell me, Blue, what should we expect?"

The disgraced fairy watched him carefully, as if looking for a trap. When she couldn't seem to find one she began to speak. "There are magical barriers set up, but not all have remained over time. They are all through here, but I would suspect that they will begin in earnest near the treeline there and will be scattered around towards the opening. Even you won't be able to detect the one at the entrance though. You'd be dead before you tried to cross it."

"That's why you're along for the ride, though, isn't it, dearie?"

Blue made a face. "I suppose it is." She turned to look fully at the valley below them, eyes narrowing at the smoke. "The best route will be to take it down to the left. It would appear that there are fewer safeguards that way, and as you've pointed out, using magic does eat through the elixir."

"There's nothing we can do to deactivate them without magic?" David asked.

"No, there's not," she answered. "This part of our world is run off magic. There is a reason that we fairies hold it as we do."

"So what can we do?" Bae asked, looking to his father more than the fairy.

"Just because we need magic to deactivate it doesn't mean there won't be physical attacks," Rumple answered, glancing briefly at Blue. "Fairy magic has a tendency to jump at you when you least expect it."

"It's not our magic that protects this place," Blue answered irritably. "And you and I will need to choose to trust each other if this will work at all."

Dark eyes flashed dangerously. "There is nothing you could do or say that would ever win my trust."

"Then why did you let me come along?"

His lips twitched, the smile turning vicious. "I don't have to trust you to make use of you, dearie."

"Enough," David sighed. "Both of you, hash this out if you want _after_ we've saved everyone, got it? It's your lives on the line too."

Rumplestiltskin let out a frustrated sound before starting forward, the underbrush and incline of the hill making it difficult to navigate on his bad ankle. Twigs and vines reached out for him as he moved and it took a moment for him to realize that it was the first edges of protection. It was almost like they were reaching out to him, feeling his darkness and weighing the dangers that he presented. They were no real threat within themselves, but they would define the kind of dangers that set themselves up between where they were and the entrance way. Glancing back he saw the same vines reaching out to Bae, but they didn't linger there too long, never latching on or posing a risk to his balance as they were beginning to with his. They simply stayed clear of Belle, not bothering her in the slightest. Blue strode past him, clearing the path as she did. If they were reaching for her, they never quite got there and pulled back immediately.

"This doesn't seem too bad," David said as they hit a leveled point in the hill where the treeline ended.

"Why would you say that?" Baelfire sighed. "Seriously, have you never watched a movie or read a book? That's when everything goes to hell… when someone says _that_."

"It's empty," David muttered in his own defence, motioning to the grassy area that lay out before them.

"Magical protection," Rumplestiltskin reminded him and took a purposeful step forward. He didn't need his Sight to know what would happen. He really didn't even need his magic that he hadn't even reached forward to send a warning up his spine.

The wind picked up around them and magic stirred, nearly knocking the sorcerer off his balance. He widened his stance, though, dark eyes watching the still-empty area that surrounded them. Alarms were going off in the back of his mind, but without reaching out he couldn't pinpoint where he should be looking. All at once he saw a flash of light and he threw a shield up on instinct as something sharp came at him. Most of it was caught by his magic, but a thin trail of blood was left along one sharp cheekbone.

"There's nothing there, Pop," Bae said, the question clear in his voice.

"Of course there is," Rumple answered and the winds grew in strength. As he looked he could see ghosting faces swirling in and around them, caught as bits of dirt and grass were picked up in the whirlwind. He couldn't be sure if they were spirits of some fashion set on guarding this place or merely illusions cast by the protections, but either way _their_ magic wasn't hampered by the curse.

"It's going to take time to break down the spell at the gate," Blue called over howls. "Can you handle this?"

Rumplestiltskin glanced at where Charming was giving it his all in hopes of taking a chunk out of one of the spirits, but his sword went straight through. "Yes." He watched the fairy nod her understanding and move closer into the valley's opening.

"You think she can do it?" Bae asked as he took a swing at one of the spirits.

"She had better," his father answered, eyes flashing and he raised his free hand. He could feel the magic gathering around him, bending to his will and in that moment he had never been happier that his curse was well and fully under his control. If it hadn't been, this would have never worked.

The winds screamed, the protection spell overpowered by a stronger being than it had expected and Rumplestiltskin took control over it, his own magic unravelling the spell and in an instant the winds died, leaving him leaning heavily against his cane, the wood sinking into the soft ground from his weight.

"Papa?"

"That won't be the end of it," Rumplestiltskin managed, determination keeping him on his feet more than anything else. "And I can't do that again."

No one argued with him as the started after Blue, finding her with her hands spread out in front of her, wand in one, and working her own brand of magic against the barrier that had become visible over the entranceway. "Is it done?" David asked.

"Almost."

"Rumple," Belle called to him softly. "They're coming again."

He let out a frustrated sound as he reached forward, taking hold of the hilt of her sword and she let go of it, startled by the sudden motion. It glowed in his hand, shimmering and glossing over with power. Once he'd handed it back to her he motioned for Bae to hand his over and then finally Charming.

"Why didn't you do that to begin with?" David grumbled, but saw the answer when he saw the way that the wizard was swaying. He reached a hand out, taking hold of his shoulder and Rumplestiltskin thought he saw genuine worry in his expression and he waved him off.

"Those will cut through them now."

"It's done," Blue called hurriedly. "We have to go now!"

"We'll hold them off. Can you two handle what's on the inside?"

Rumple gave a slow nod. "We'll have to."

Bae caught his arm as he turned. "Papa, be careful."

The smile that tugged his lips spoke of exhaustion. "You too," he answered, and then he was gone, following Blue into the opened mouth and down into the so-called Valley of Lights that was darkened by the curse swirling inside.

* * *

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: Two chapters in one day. Love all the theories about Blue. :D

**Chapter Six.**

It hit him as soon as he walked in, nearly sending him to his knees with the force of it. His mind whirled with knowledge that had been buried deep. It was strange the way his Sight worked. Even when repressed it gave him hints, feelings, that often led him to the correct path if he were willing to follow the prompting.

"This isn't a curse," Blue managed, voicing what he should have know. Voicing what made so much more sense now.

"Not in the strictest sense, dearie," Rumplestiltskin answered, surprised at his own confidence. Well, he was a showman if nothing else. "If you define a curse as having to be cast by someone."

The fairy seemed shaken and all pretense of her own assuredness had washed away. "What could have caused this?"

"My guess? Us. We've ripped a hole in the fabric of time and space coming and going in such numbers. The walls between worlds can let one or two slip through easily if there's a way, but we've sent too many back and forth now. "

Blue's eyes met his, wide and not just a little afraid. "Darkness birthed from a site of sacred light magic. It needs balance. It's trying to restore balance."

Rumple nodded thoughtfully, moving further in, but not risking going too close to the swirl lest it mistake his curiosity for self-sacrifice and swallow him up. It was quiet here, unlike when the cloud had descended on them in Maurice's castle. This was the eye of the storm, brilliant and dangerous, and yet somehow breathtaking and beautiful. He looked up, the purple-grey cloud folding in and around on itself like a dance to music that no one could ever hear. Magic was rebelling and, yes, it was likely their fault. He'd known the risks of the curse he'd written and he'd been willing to take them. This was the price for the deed he began. "Likely it has been reaching out to find it. That's why it's killing anyone with a connection to magic. If we're dead, it's a reset."

"That's terrible."

He shot her a look. "For us, yes, but it doesn't _feel_, Blue. You can't… reason with it to be anything other than what it is. It's the price. It's going to take a great power to close."

"A sacrifice."

"Indeed."

"It should be you," Blue breathed. "You wrote the Dark Curse, you manipulated Regina into casting it and now our world is taking pieces of us as payment."

The Dark One tilted his head, his expression mostly blank except for the calculation that could be read in his eyes. Power swirled all around them as he studied the Blue Fairy. "No," he said slowly, voice steadier than it had been since fighting off the so-called curse in his love's castle. He leaned forward and she flinched. "It'll be you."

"That's absurd," she snapped. "It needs a balance! I'm on the side of good. The only hope that we have is that perhaps your sacrifice that you made in Storybrooke to save your son and his will have done something to that darkened heart of yours. It has to be you."

A dangerous smile stretched across Rumplestiltskin's face and she didn't have time to react as he reached forward and suddenly the fairy was looking at her own heart in his hand. He held it up for inspection, tutting. "Well would you look at that?" he purred, eyes focused on several dark spots littered across it. "Looks like someone's heart is darker than she thinks. That happens, dearie, when you're willing to kill to get what you want."

* * *

Baelfire had played with wooden swords like any other kid in the Frontlands until his father had become the Dark One, but it was his time in Neverland that had taught him how to fight for his life. Imagination might rule Neverland, but you couldn't imagine anything but the pain when a sword struck you. He'd learned that the hard way. Thankfully for him, the sword had not been dipped in Dream Shade. The lesson had remained along with his life.

His cutlass sliced through another howling spirit as it was aiming for him, vicious claws going for his throat. This wasn't unlike some of the nightmarish things that he'd discovered in Neverland, especially when it came to being at odds with Pan's shadow. You couldn't fight that off with a sword though. These might be fast, but they weren't impossible to catch. The biggest problem he'd seen so far was that they had a tendency to pop out of thin air without much of a warning.

"Neal!"

He ducked, barely dodging the close call, and nodded his thanks to David. One sidestep, a duck, and another step later Bae was back up against both Belle and Charming, the three of them pressed together and fending off the various wind monsters.

"You think they've killed each other yet?" David called, sounding as if he were trying to joke.

"I'm really just hoping they didn't both pass out as soon as they moved in towards that cloud," Belle answered in a strained voice, taking out one of the spirits.

"Pop'll get it done. Say what you want about his methods, but if he sets out to do something it's pretty rare it doesn't get done."

"With very few exceptions," Belle agreed, glancing back at her love's son. "Bae!"

Baelfire blinked as her sword came within two inches of his face, skewering a spirit that he hadn't even seen form. In its end, with her blade through it, it was reached out, claws sharp and poised. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"I'll make sure you don't," she answered with a smile.

"I think we're making a dent in them."

Bae could only hope David was right.

They split off, parrying and striking against the oncoming attacks. He thought after a moment that they were, actually, making the dent that Emma's father had said they were. He and Belle seemed to be wrapping it up on their end, but they had seemed to like him better from the beginning anyway. "Darkness knows you well," a voice hissed in his ear, sounding like something out of a bad horror movie. Baelfire swung around, just missing the creature and it took hold of him, claws digging into one shoulder and his side as it slammed him into the ground, the breath knocked out of him.

It might have been pretty up close, had it not been trying to kill him. "Yeah," he answered it, "he does, and he's a little over protective. Fair warning." The sword split right through it, scattering it back into the air. Bae lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?"

He blinked, dark eyes coming to focus on Belle. "Yeah. Fine."

"That thing was after you," David mused, finally deciding it was okay to sheath his sword and offered Bae a hand up.

The young - elder? Bae wasn't sure he wanted to think too long on that - man winced as he accepted it, pulled to his feet. "Got the impression it had to do with being the Dark One's kid and all that. Not something I haven't heard before. At least this time I wasn't locked out of a game of kickball." The joke might have been lost on David, but the smile that Belle wore, shaking her head the whole way, told him that she might have heard a few stories. "Let's get in there and get this over with."

* * *

Blue was staring in horror at her own heart. There was no denying it now as the proof stared her in the face. While it beat inside of her, the knowledge hidden except in the deepest recesses of her soul, she could lie to herself and those around her, but not anymore. Now even Rumplestiltskin knew and there was no reason to lie. Not even to herself. "It won't work if you force me in there. That's not a self-sacrifice."

"Who said it had to be a self-sacrifice? Any sacrifice will do, though I can't say losing you will be much of a burden." He continued to grin as her fear only grew. "Oh don't worry, dearie. You're not going to throw yourself in because I've made you do it." He shoved her heart back in. "You're going to go in willingly."

Blue let out a pained sound, but straightened. "And why should I?"

"Because you _owe_ me."

"My life?" the fairy scoffed in a decidedly un-fairy-like manner. "I think not."

Rumplestiltskin waved a hand and a barrier came up, shimmering between them and locking her in closer to the cloud. "I wasn't finished, dearie. There's always a choice, you see. A deal that can be made. You made one with me earlier. Let's strike a new one."

"Let me out. Your son and David and Belle will be in any moment now. They'll see you're holding me. They'll know you're forcing my hand."

"See, that's where we differ, Blue. They know who I am. People _expect_ me to do terrible things. Gives me a bit more room to wiggle." His voice pitched up and she looked absolutely terrified by now. He leaned heavily on his cane, the power he was using pulling on him. He watched her as he spoke and he continued to study her. He knew what she needed to strike a bargain. He could always tell a desperate soul. "But you… Oh, you want them to think you're so good. Botched that one up with Mallicade didn't you? Everyone saw you for what you are. You're only good when it suits you, dearie. Every other moment you're as selfish as the rest of us. But that's the deal I'll make with you. I'll let them think you're doing it for them. You walk into that cloud and appease this chaos and it's your praises they'll sing."

"But I'll be dead."

"They'll never forgive you otherwise. This, dearie, is your one chance. It's your moment where you can wipe everything away. Well, at least in their eyes, but that matters so very much to you, doesn't it?"

He could see her weighing her options. She could, certainly, out wait him. His powers were failing and it was everything that he could do not to drop to his knees in a coughing fit. He felt his chest clenching, the pain spreading through him like thousands of needles piercing him all at once. She could out wait him, but then _she_ would be the coward, not him. She knew he was right. They expected Rumplestiltskin - _the Dark One_ - to worm his way out of a price that perhaps he should pay, all things considered. He was no hero, but she was supposed to be. In the end, he was putting his money on the fact that that would mean more to her than the life of exile that she'd been living.

"Clock's ticking, dearie," he rasped, voice finally giving.

"You'll tell them I died for them?"

"I will. Your perfect little record of good will be restored."

"You swear it?"

"I never break a deal."

She knew it too. He could see it in her eyes as she turned, shoulders pulling back and set. She lifted her head in a manner that he knew well and looked back at him. "I expect this isn't where you'll start then," she said in a tight voice.

His control slipped and the barrier flickered out of existence even as she walked into the smoke. Rumplestiltskin could hear the sound of the others barging in, David's voice reaching above the others as he called out to his wife's patron fairy. Blue didn't turn. She didn't dare. He had to admit that at least in the end she could at least appear to go out with dignity. He just hoped it was enough to snap the rift shut. If the eldest fairy in the realm didn't do it, it would most certainly come for him next, ripping the curse from him and _maybe_ there'd be enough of him left for Belle and Bae to mourn over. Maybe.

"What's she doing?" Charming demanded, though surprisingly enough his voice wasn't accusatory.

Rumple finally gave in and sank to a knee, coughing deeply into his hand. "Sacrificing herself. It's the only way… Only way to close it."

"She'll die," Belle managed and Rumple looked up at her. For everything that Blue had done to their little family his Belle still felt pity for her in that pure heart of hers. He couldn't help but marvel at it.

"Papa?"

He looked back and stumbled to his feet. "Bae, you're hurt."

Baelfire looked down at his clothes, blood soaking through and causing them to hug tightly to his skin. "It's fine, but that's not," he said, motioning at the cloud. As Blue had walked into it, disappearing from sight, it had picked up in its swirling pattern. Gone was the quiet at the center of the storm and it had begun to rage. "We need to get out now."

"I can't-"

"Not telling you to save us, Pop, just telling everybody to run," Bae growled, grabbing his father by the arm, tugging him along.

The four of them raced for the exit as best as they could, the storm chasing them down. They were picked up wholly off the ground by it as a crashing sound ripped through the air, and were thrown out into the clearing beyond. They landed hard against the grass and the sound died out behind them, the roar dissipating and it left only their ragged breathing to fill the space.

* * *

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven.**

Rumplestiltskin lay where he was, trying to convince his body that breathing was the right choice no matter how much it hurt. Pull the air in, let it back out. It stung. It ached. He had to fight the urge to curl in on himself and wait for it to pass. Instead all he managed was a terrible sound that might have been a cough.

He reached out feebly after a moment, searching for a connection to his magic. The link was exhausted and it would take time to rebuild properly, but it was there. That was something, at least. It meant that it had worked.

A choked laugh bubbled in his throat, but never quite made it past his lips as he managed to open his eyes. He had no way of knowing how long had passed since they'd been thrown out of the valley, but the storm had subsided. The crash that had left his ears ringing so he hadn't even thought to listen for the others, but his son lay directly in his line of sight, eyes closed and limp against the grass. His hand, though, was still wrapped around Rumplestiltskin's wrist where he'd all but dragged the elder man towards safety. "Bae?" the name tumbled from him, barely a whisper as he reached his free hand to his face.

Baelfire didn't stir his father called his name again, the panic rising in him and giving him the strength to pull himself up on one shaking arm to get a better look.

"Rumple?" Belle called quietly from behind and her hand touched the center of his back.

"He's not waking up," he managed as he eased Bae onto his back as gently as he could, taking in the drying blood that mixed with fresh. It soaked through on his left shoulder and down like claws had taken hold of him. Another splash of blood was on his opposite side, the one that he'd been lying on. He was pale now, face drawn in pain even though he hadn't broken back through into consciousness.

"He took a hard hit just before we went inside to help you and Blue," David said from behind. "He said he was fine."

"We were all running off adrenaline," Belle murmured and her hand left Rumple's back as she stood.

The sorcerer was knelt over his son now. He knew the price to shut the rip between worlds would be steep, but this was too much. He wasn't willing to pay _this_ as a price. He'd have prefered walking into that terrible cloud hand-in-hand with the damn fairy as to being forced to watch his son bleed out in front of him.

He tried to reach deeper for his magic. That was a cost catching up with him now too. It had been worth it at the time to give up his immortality to keep his power and his soul both, but the very human Rumplestiltskin was having trouble pulling enough together to heal increasingly dangerous wounds.

"Can't you-"

"_Shut up_," he hissed, immediately cutting off Charming's question.

Rumplestiltskin gripped his son's hand in his own, his desperation funneled into his focus. He would not lose his son over this. He would not give Bae up. Not again. He would not let go again. Images flashed through his mind and he focused on them. Happier times before his curse and those since they'd been reunited. The emotions worked through him, weaving together the spell and after a long moment he felt the hand in his tighten.

"Hey, Papa."

Dark eyes blinked open to find a pair the same shade looking back. "Hey."

Bae grinned up at him, that same damn grin that he'd worn when he'd been a boy and had gotten himself into trouble in some fashion. "So, I know I've told you before I'm not a fan of using magic to heal… Taking that back right now. Love it. Best thing ever."

A smile perked Rumple's lips and he wrapped an arm around his son's neck as the younger man sat up. Bae returned the embrace readily. "Thanks for not letting go," he managed in his father's ear and felt him tighten his hold.

When they finally parted, Rumplestiltskin sitting back against the grass and Bae not quite ready to stand after the whole event, Bell took a seat with them. She glanced up at David who looked like he was just barely containing his questions and then back to her love. "Rumple, why did Blue have to do what she did?"

The Dark One sighed, wishing very much to put the conversation off. They had to pick their way back through the woods to find somewhere that they could procure some form of transportation and that ride would take the better part of the day. Or what was left of the day. To be honest, he had no clue what time it was, he just knew if they were wanting him to transport them home in a quick and easy fashion that they'd be sorely disappointed.

"Rumplestiltskin?" David called, shaking him out of his thoughts.

He blinked, realizing that all eyes were still on him. Right. Blue. He'd been the only one there. "Travel between worlds and realms is not… natural. It doesn't hurt in small quantities, of course, but to pick up a large group of people and move them as many times as they've been moved in such a relatively short span of time did more damage than we knew."

"So your curse that you had Regina cast-" Charming started, but was quickly cut off.

"I wanted to stay this last time, _your highness_, but no one listens to me when it actually matters." Belle shot him a look and he relented. "Blue and I found that it's been reaching out to reset this world. Likely it would have killed any of us with a great enough tie to magic. It was going to take a great power to pay the price to close it."

"Blue sacrificed herself," the young king mused. "For all of us. It looks like we were wrong about her."

"Perhaps," Rumple murmured softly.

They didn't ask anything further, and for that he was thankful. The trip back to the castle would be long enough without it.

* * *

People had already been gathered for some time when he finally arrived. He was sure that one or two speeches had already been given by the way that tears had begun to flow. Rumplestiltskin stood silently with his hood pulled up over head, the cloak charmed to shield him from casually wandering eyes. He hadn't been expected to be there, not really, and it had been a last minute decision to finally haul himself out of bed and limp his way to the courtyard where the memorial for the woman he hated was being held.

He'd been to very few of these types of gatherings in the past, for all his long years. In the Frontlands it was usually either war or sickness that took people. A small remembrance might be given for a fallen soldier, but mostly it was a family matter if any family was left. Towns had stopped gathering for them years before he'd even enlisted. If they hadn't, it would have been a daily occurrence. When the snows came and sickness spread and took those that could not stand against it there was no time for any sort of gathering. Their bodies were burned for the safety of those left behind and the ashes done away with.

So this was an oddity for Rumplestiltskin to behold. He'd slept a great deal once they'd finally made it back to the castle and no one had bothered him about it. The bells had woken him that morning though and he'd somehow known what they'd been for. People gathered and listened and spoke about the deceased. Nothing was mentioned of her betrayals, as he knew they wouldn't be. She was the eldest fairy, the Blue Fairy, and she would be remembered as such. She'd known that too. That's the only reason she'd taken the deal. Better to die a hero in people's minds than a coward that was forced into it. There was no mention of her lies or her manipulations. No, she was a great fairy. A _good_ fairy, and she spread her goodness to others.

Rumplestiltskin had to really focus not to gag.

Snow White had stepped to the front now and was going on and on about her family's patron fairy. She forgot to mention the part not too awful long ago she'd tried to take off with her grandson. Or how, before that, she'd been willing to tell a lie that had separated her from her daughter for twenty-eight years. Small details, of course.

"I thought you weren't coming."

Dark eyes blinked, surprised that anyone would notice him there, but Belle had always been able to see through any mask - or cloak, in this case - that he put on. He offered her what he hoped was a real enough smile. "Just made it."

"Mm," she hummed and took his hand, fingers lacing through his. "I'm proud of you."

"Whatever for?"

"For coming. I know that you didn't like Blue - I don't blame you for it - but you coming here shows respect, Rumple. I'm proud of you for that."

There were not many that could bring about a pang of guilt in the Dark One, but Belle did manage. The ironic thing was that it was almost always by accident.

Rumplestiltskin didn't answer, just held tightly to her hand until the speeches were over. He kept his expression blank as people started to disperse. They didn't move at all until Bae started making his way towards them. "Pop, you're looking better."

"A bit," his father agreed. "How's Henry holding?"

"Never would have known he was sick. He hasn't stopped going since we got back. I've barely gotten any rest myself." He flashed a wide grin. "Got a moment for me, Papa?"

Bae's voice was light and cheerful - certainly at odds with the setting around them, but hey, he didn't have a great deal of use for the Blue Fairy either - but Rumple couldn't shake a small warning that tingled in the back of his mind that it was put on, though for what purpose he couldn't be sure. "Of course," he answered evenly and squeezed Belle's hand before releasing it to follow slowly after his son.

The two men wound back through the castle and away from the crowds. Baelfire didn't stop until they were far enough away for the crowd's chatter to become only a distant murmur. They were alone in the hall, but he still looked up and down, gauging for himself before turning his gaze on his father, studying him.

Rumple pushed back the uncomfortable feeling that was building. "Is something wrong, Bae?"

"I know what you did, Papa," Baelfire said after a moment, still watching the hallway around them.

The elder man remained still, leaning on his cane and watching his son very carefully. "And what, exactly, is that?"

Baelfire sighed, running a hand through his grey-flecked hair. "Could we just cut the crap, Pop? I know you don't want to talk about it. I know you'd probably prefer I didn't know about it, but I know you and I know enough about Reul Ghorm to know she didn't walk into that cloud of her own free will."

Rumple looked slightly insulted, even if it was for show. "Of course she did, Bae. Turned right around and sacrificed herself for the better good and all of that."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Bae sighed, leaning against the wall. "What deal did you strike?"

His father sighed. "To let her have her damned reputation back."

The silence that followed the statement, the round-about admission to the deed, was deafening. Rumplestiltskin watched a series of emotions play across his son's features before Bae glanced up and down the hall again and then leaned right in his face to hiss, "Seriously? You _murdered_ the Blue Fairy."

The sorcerer bristled at this and pulled back. "And what choice did I have?" he shot back, his temper getting the better of him. "It required a price to close it."

"So tossing in the oldest fairy in the Enchanted Forest seemed like the best idea?"

Rumplestiltskin whirled on him, eyes flashing. "Would you have prefered it to be me, then? Because that was my only other option, Bae."

Just as quickly as it had come, his rage deflated as his son spoke in a steady voice. "Of course not, Papa."

"Then what would you have had me do, son?"

The words weren't sharp and when Bae looked at his papa he found an honest question that he truly didn't know the answer to. This was a woman that had stood by as a cleric had held and tortured his father. She'd then brought the same man back again to have a second go at him while finding time in her busy schedule to kidnap his son. On top of that, he was pretty sure that she'd known what that bean would mean to his father and had sent him down that path anyway, though Bae couldn't have known to what end for sure. She'd done terrible things to their family. She might have, if given half the chance, continued to do terrible things to them. The Charmings hadn't rubbed off on him so much that he couldn't see that and he couldn't feel a burning anger towards it, but he had a kid that looked up to him. That looked up to _his_ father as well. "I don't know, Papa," he said slowly, tasting the words, "but even if that was your only option that's not the real problem here. It's that you don't even think about how wrong it is to sacrifice another life if you think you have a reason for it. Yeah… she hurt us. _All_ of us, but you don't feel any remorse in her death, do you? Be honest with me."

Rumple met his eyes. "No," he said slowly. "She owed me. Big time."

"And there we have," Baelfire breathed. "Listen, Papa, I know you're _trying_, but stuff like this-"

"Please don't leave."

Bae startled. His father's voice had been so small when he spoke, smaller than he remembered it being in so very, very many years. He could see the terror unmasked in his eyes and he couldn't make himself speak for a moment. As he could see the elder man's mind spinning, creating all sorts of terrible outcomes that had nothing to do with his Sight, Bae sighed and said what he had thought should be obvious by now. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What?"

"Why would you think I was?"

"You're quite angry with me."

"Well, yeah, I'm pissed, but I love you, Papa. Being angry doesn't mean I'm leaving. We've fought too hard to put this crazy little family together."

The words sank in slowly, leaving Rumple with a strong sense of truth in them. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to meet his son's eyes. "I'm sorry, Bae. What were you saying?"

Baelfire offered him a half smile. "I was trying to explain that this is why I freaked out about you teaching Henry. I don't think you'd ever teach him anything dark on purpose, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't just come naturally as time went on. Things you don't think are dark at all are well beyond grey for most. He's not even fourteen yet. How's he going to know?"

Rumple let a long breath out through his nose. "Perhaps," he said at last.

"I'm not saying that you two shouldn't spend time together. It's good for him. You too, I think. Let's just… hold off on the magic training until he can learn the basics from someone who didn't start off his own by killing his predecessor and stealing his powers, fair enough?"

A small smile perked thin lips. "Fair enough."

Bae grinned in response, reaching over and wrapping an arm around his father's shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised again. "As long as you don't."

"Never again, Bae. I swear it."

"Well good. You going back to the umm… festivities?"

"I do think I will avoid toasting our departed Blue Fairy."

"You should talk to Belle then."

Rumplestiltskin tilted his head. "About what?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you too well for that. About what we just discussed. I'm not saying you should spread it around the kingdom. Pretty sure that'd undo any goodwill you've earned so far, but still… Belle deserves to know. You did promise to be honest with her."

He saw the question flash through his father's eyes. The same question that he'd seen directed at him just a few moments before.

"Trust me, Papa, Belle and I have had enough discussions about you that I can promise that the only thing that would ever take that woman away from you is death, and I'm not sure that would work very well to be honest. Someday you've got to admit to yourself that she loves you as much as you love her."

The smile from a few moments before returned and slowly the two men started back down the hall. "And you? Have you discovered the answer to your own questions about Miss Swann?"

"I think so. I'm going to talk to David after things settle down. Get his blessing. That's still a thing here, right?"

"Yes, I believe it is."

"Not sure it's a thing you should follow when you finally decide to pop the question to Belle, though. I mean… David doesn't point at me and accuse me of casting random curses whenever they roll in. Pretty sure that was Maurice's first reaction. You two might just want to elope or something."

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

Bae grinned broadly. "You could have it with David, I guess. Or Jiminy. _That'd_ be fun."

Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes but his chuckle gave him away as they continued towards the great hall where their crazy little family, as Bae had called it, would be. He knew Belle wouldn't be happy. She might need some time to process it, go for a walk, and then come back with a million questions, but she'd come back. She always came back, as did Bae. His son was right. It was time he started to put faith in those that he loved that they returned it in full. He wasn't sure quite how to do that, but he was certain that trusting her with this was certainly a good step towards it.

* * *

END

A/N: I don't think this will be the end to my little series I've got going here, but I haven't fleshed out the idea for the next one enough to really divulge anything. I do know in the next few days I'm going to be writing a short from when they were in Storybrooke where Henry approaches his grandpa about teaching him magic. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Henry?


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